July 23, 2008
Center Valley, Pa. - Holy Cross senior quarterback Dominic Randolph, the reigning Offensive Player of the Year, is among six Patriot League football student-athletes that received preseason honors from websites and magazines previewing the 2008 season in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision.
Randolph was selected as the No. 3 quarterback in the nation in an article by The Sports Network, and also garnered Second-Team All-America honors from Consensus Draft Services. Colgate senior running back Jordan Scott (second team) and Lehigh senior defensive lineman Brian Jackson (honorable mention) were also named to the Consensus Draft Services All-America squad and both earned All-America honors from The Sporting News, which listed just one team. Lafayette senior wide receiver/punt returner Shaun Adair and Fordham junior quarterback John Skelton completed the Patriot League's representation on the Consensus Draft Services list with honorable mention status, while Skelton was picked as the No. 20 quarterback in the nation on The Sports Network list. Colgate senior offensive lineman Nick Hennessey was the Patriot League's lone representative on the All-America list from Phil Steele's 2008 College Football Preview, as he earned second-team recognition.
Randolph enters the 2008 season as the all-time Patriot League leader in passing yards and total offense per game, and is the active career FCS leader in both categories. He received Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year honors in 2007 after completing 297-of-482 passes for 3,604 yards with 30 touchdowns and eight interceptions while leading Holy Cross to records of 7-4 overall and 4-2 in the League. Randolph finished the season as a candidate for the Walter Payton Award (Most Outstanding Player in FCS), and finished 12th in the balloting.
Scott was also on the final Payton Award ballot, placing 14th in the voting. He was the nation's leading rusher in 2007, finishing with 170.5 yards per game while posting 1,875 yards and 20 touchdowns for the season. He became the third player in Patriot League history to put up 11 consecutive 100-yard rushing efforts in a season. Scott enters the 2008 campaign with 4,473 career rushing yards, a total that leads all FCS players and is just 362 yards shy of breaking the Patriot League record held by Lafayette's Erik Marsh (1991-94).
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Jackson notched 63 tackles, nine tackles for a loss and 5.5 sacks for the Mountain Hawks in 2007, helping him earn Second-Team All-America honors from The Sports Network. Jackson, Randolph and Scott all received First-Team All-Patriot League honors in 2007.
Skelton, Adair and Hennessey are all coming off seasons where they received Second-Team All-Patriot League recognition. Skelton led Fordham to the Patriot League title by completing 216-of-383 passes for 2,650 yards with 22 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Adair was seventh in the nation with 14.0 yards per punt return while also hauling in 41 receptions for 538 yards and four touchdowns. Hennessey helped a Colgate offense that led the Patriot League with 195.64 rushing yards per game.
The 2008 Patriot League football season begins on August 30 when Colgate travels to Stony Brook, with all seven teams in action the next weekend on Sept. 6. The first League game occurs on Sept. 13, with Georgetown visiting Lafayette.
Patriot League Football Media Day is set for July 31, when the League's preseason poll and preseason offensive and defensive player of the year honors will be announced.
